A Twilight of Empires

Lords of the Earth, Campaign 13

How to Make Artillery

More so than for most other units, artillery use - what we now describe by
terms like ballistae, catapults, and the like - is closely related to the
overall technological level of a given society. This is especially true
for battlefield artillery, the use of which was unusual in antiquity,
though by no means unheard of. The Phokians in the 4th century BCE were known for
using massed artillery, and the Macedonian successor states, Romans,
Chinese, and others also used man- and torsion-powered engines on the
battlefield.

What is Required - the Nuts and Bolts

With the requirement for substantial technical resources generally, it
makes sense that a nation will need to be technologically advanced. Using
the
New Type (NT)
action to, for example, give peasant boys with slings
and javelins (XII) catapults is not going to work. Here
then are the steps to take before raising artillery units:

Tech Level - Get the player position up to
tech level 5. This is not a trivial operation. For more on
how to achieve this, please see the players rules.

Artillery Quality Rating - Next, one needs to have a non-zero
Artillery QR. This is done in the usual way, by investing in the stat.

Build Units - Finally engines of war may be fielded. These
are limited by these criteria:

QR at least 1 - Able to raise Light Artillery (XA) units.

QR at least 2 - Able to raise Artillery (A) units.

The above steps can be avoided by purchasing units from another player, but
these then may not be replaced except through more purchases. Step one
above can be skipped if one wishes only to use engines acquired
"somehow," meaning that if a nation has an artillery QR but not
the tech level required, they may use them but not raise new units.